Mental Health Awareness Week 2023

To help raise awareness, we will be posting a daily resource from some of our favourite pioneers who are challenging the way we think about and treat mental health and anxiety.

To get the ball rolling, here is some background on anxiety:

Anxiety is a perfectly natural and normal reaction that lives within all of us. It’s a human emotion that can spur us on, keep us alert and safe and even motivate us towards a goal. However, when overused and out of control, no matter how confident, educated, famous, competent, brave or strong someone seems, anxiety can be hiding under the surface, causing all manner of difficulties. Biochemically, anxiety is a combination of hormones and neurotransmitters called Epinephrine and Norepinephrine which are responsible for the adrenaline and energy that gets pumped through our bodies. It’s an essential human function that we all need to perform and even survive but when it takes over it becomes the inner battle that some are fighting but no one can see.

• Regularly feeling nervous, restless, frustrated and irritated
• Difficulty concentrating
• Feeling twitchy, agitated and fearful
• Increased heart rate, headaches, muscle aches and a churning stomach

Anxiety becomes a problem when the above symptoms last longer than expected after a stressful situation has ended. It can become more severe over time and limit our ability to do something or live a life that’s free from worry.

Anxiety isn’t a disease or lifetime curse, it can be a temporary condition that is manageable and curable with the right approach and strategy that works for the individual. We’re not saying that there’s a magic wand, or an easy solution that’s guaranteed to cure it. Managing anxiety is as personal to those who are suffering depending upon the reason they have the condition in the first place, but there are proven strategies that can help ease the chaos we feel when anxiety takes hold.